The Syndicate
by Atengen
Summary: Welcome to a world flowing with crime and deception, to survive is to kill,where this is no probability of tomorrow, a world where one entity pulls all the strings decieding who lives,or who dies.Welcome to....The Syndicate
1. Chapter 1

**The Syndicate**

_The Prelude_

"_W-w-w-Why are you do this?!?!" the man asked as he stared down the gun barrel of the platinum plated Browning being held by the unknown assailant. Although the trembling minister was in so much shock as to what transpired around him, seeing all the gory bodies of his bodyguards scatter all around him, he still noticed the words "Jesus wept...." imprinted on the gun barrel in such a way as though it was speaking directly into his deranged mind._

"_....Why you ask, because the father God so have it this way" the unknown man replied, with no sign of hesitation to what was seemed like terrified and innocent eyes of a saint, but what was clear to him as being a facade of remorse from the serpent himself. Mr. Kido as called by many of his close associates, is a foreigner affairs minister from the Province of Genoa, a province in the Liguria region of Italy. At the time he was visiting one of the numerous homes he had under his name in Russia. However, really, it was just a front for an underground mafia organisation he had been working for years out of Russia. This organisation had ties to most if not all the main drug rings operating throughout the western hemisphere. Underground he was known notoriously as a man who did anything to make sure whatever his will was, it was done. Strangely enough he found himself at the wrong side of the trigger this time._

"_H-h-h-HOW COULD YOU CALL GOD'S NAME SO EASILY, You who stand there ready to kill me, you are nothing but a liar and a fool, what makes you think killing me will stop us, what makes you think there will not me another me, what...." he was cut short after realising the unknown figure was no longer standing in front of him. "Because...." a voice behind him whispered "as it was in the beginning, it's now and forever shall be world without end...." Kido's eyes opened wide and was about to hurl out a scream when "BANG!!!!" the sound of a gunshot rang through the home, sending crows in a nearby tree into a frenzy of evil laughter._

_Kido dropped to the ground limp as the last ounce of his breath slowly oozed out of his body. The unknown gunman then slowly turn around and bowed his head slowly will walking away and said "....AMEN."_

_Chapter One-Let sleeping Dogs lie_

_As the man left the room, he heard his cell ringing; when he answered he immediately noticed an anxious voice on the other line "Hey Zamfir," a deep voice boomed "you might want to leave like NOW, seems our mafia friends were not too keen on you turning their safe house into an instant morgue, their sending some friends over to return the favour."_

_Upon the voice on the line describing the outfit of the men, Zamfir stood there for a moment then replied "Old man, it seems they are already here, but I take it, you knew that," just as he said, coming from some distant down the corridor, were several men clothed in camo uniform and all holding various assault weapons._

_As these men approached him, he heard some laughter coming from the other end of the line "Oh....well you have fun, don't go to overboard though, because you're not being paid extra" the man then laughed a bit more then the line went dead._

_Zamfir stood there for a second, remembering those countless times the old man left him in these situations with nothing but a smile on his dirt caked face. "Well guys, would love to stay and chat," he said as he loaded the magazines into his pair of Brownings. "....but, I have a previous engagement with my boss and I really can't afford to miss it, so please, excuse us"_

_As the soldiers started to unleash their bombardment of bullets on Zamfir, all he did was give a little smile and then dashed forward. In the process taking out the first four men with swift yet precise foot work. Picking out another four with the constant flow of his finger pulling the trigger, began the signature dance of the grim gunslinger. As he moved around the corridor, his sheer force and agility had most of the soldiers in awe at times, giving way to Zamfir sending some of them hurling down the corridor with each frightening waves of bullets he let loose. _

"_HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOGS DOING,KILL THAT BASTARD NOW, I WANT HIM DEAD, DO YOU HEAR...." the soldier who seemed to be in charge was cut short after realising his words were falling on deaf ears. To be more precise however, his words fell on dead ears, for he realised all his men were laying lifelessly on the ground all around him. Then almost suddenly he came to the realisation that there was a dark figure standing beside him. After hearing a gunshot, the soldier slowing dropped to the ground, his blood started to drip out; ruining what was already a bloodstained floor. Zamfir then smiled a little to himself then said "Why not let sleeping dogs lie"_

_As Zamfir walked towards his car which was parked in a dirt road some metres away, he started to hear the faint sounds of sirens echoing coming down the street. He figured a nosy neighbour probably noticed all of the infantry entering the home, and upon hearing the constant exchange of gunfire, decided to call the local law enforcement. As he got into the old black 1967 camaro, he took out his cell and started to dial a number. "Ah, Mr Waltz, I was expecting your call, and may I ask how did the job go, I trust everything went smoothly," The voice on the other line said._

"_Screw you Blake, one of these days I'll get you for all of these irrelevant side missions you always seem to get me on." Just as he said this, he noticed a dark cloud off flames in his rear view mirror, shoot up into the sky. Then a few seconds later he heard a faint explosion coming from the same direction as the building which he just came from. "Blake, if I just told you, the target's residence just went up in a ball of flames, hypothetically, what would you say to me?" Zamfir asked_

"_Oh, I'd probably say, hypothetically, that this is your lucky day, if my memories serve me correctly, more often than not, you would normally be in the middle of that explosion" Blake said. Although he said it in a joking way, Zamfir knew well enough that he was not telling a lie. "Oh by the way," he continued "You may want to run a few red lights on your way here, the syndicate has issued you with a special assignment that you must get on ASAP, well, also two of my favourite soaps are on tonight" he then laughed a bit, while Zamfir tossed the phone aside, sighed a bit, then gunned the car through the intersection._


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two- Say Hello to your new Group_

_Zamfir arrived at the airport a few minutes later, parked the car, and continued on his way towards the entrance into the departure. On his way there he noticed a tall, bald, middle aged man in deep conversation with a cute air hostess, just outside the departure lounge. After taking another look at the gentleman, he realised it was his old acquaintance Mr Blake. He waited a while for the conversation between the two to end, and then when he saw the woman leaving, he approached Blake saying "Perverted old man, have you not corrupted enough young ladies' minds in your lifetime." Blake turned around, and upon seeing the serious expression on the young man's face gave out a hearty laugh which drew the attention from some of the people in the area. Zamfir was dressed in a jet black leather jacket, long black jeans and a pair of matching boots. The brown skinned, black spiked haired boy, who often was the main talking point at the meetings Mr Blake attended, often brought the old man various forms on entertainment on a daily basis, one of them being the fact that young man, who did not believe alot in God, had a cross like scar under his left eye and a chain which he always wore, had a cross on it. _

"_I have no idea what you are trying to imply, but believe it are not you will soon be seeing that fine young lady again" Blake said as he started to ruffle Zamfir's hair with his hand. It seems America was his next destination, as the plane lifted off of the runway. He thought back to when he was still at the departure lounge with the old man, he was told the assignment involved him attending a small public high school just outside of Queens. However the daydream was broken when the familiar looking air hostess sat down in the seat next to him. "Hey sexy," she said as she pulled out a file from under skirt and handed it to him. Zamfir looked at her with a blank expression, trying to figure out what she trying to prove by hiding such an important file, in such an "important" place. However all he saw was this beautiful, young, brown skinned girl starring back at him with her pearly honey brown eyes. While he looked through the document the young lady started to talk to him "Your assignment is to infiltrate Century High, as an A level student who is interested in the sciences, your class will be 8-C, and your first lesson is beginning roughly 9 minutes after you arrive at JKF," she then handed him a small folded piece a of paper in which she went on to explain it was a map with directions to the place he will be staying at while on the mission._

_She then asked if there were any questions he had, he thought to himself for a brief moment then said "Well they are a few, however, may I ask who exactly are you, I'm sure if we had met before I would have remember such a face." All she did was giggle a little to herself and replied "My my, aren't we the little charmer, don't you worry though sweetie, you will soon see me again in a couple of weeks" and with that statement she gave him a small kiss to the cheek, winked at him, and went on her way towards the cockpit. As she walked away he realise she left a pair of car keys in his lap, not wanting to get up and ask a question, he decided he will probably find out sooner or later which car exactly they were for._

_After touching down at JFK, he quickly got a cab and soon afterwards arrived at the school. After asking around for a while, he finally got the correct directions to his class. On his way there he saw a girl coming from the opposite direction, upon her noticing him; she gave him a warm little smile. _

"_Are you new here?" she asked. Zamfir nodded in approval as they made their way inside. After introducing himself to the professor and the class, he was assigned a seat behind the same girl he just met at the door. She waited until the professor got deep into explaining the new term's syllabus to tell him "Well let me introduce myself properly this time," as she turned to shake his hand she continued "My name is Ava Dagmar, also student council president, so if there is any problems your having you can always come to me." As the lesson continued he noticed a boy in the back that in his mind stood out to him with his unusual white hair, plus he had the look of a person who was completely lost as to what was going on, funny enough however, it seemed on the past exam tests that were giving out, he was just a couple of points behind Ava._

_At the end of the day, most of the classes had gone pretty smooth for Zamfir, and on his way out of the building he took out the map the air hostess had given him early, and somehow found his way to the apartment which was marked out on the baffling piece of paper, who he figured she did herself. He made his way up the stairs and was about to open the door when he sensed a presence from inside the room. Having known he was pretty much unarmed since Blake had to bring him his arsenal he slowly entered the room and noticed apart from the couch, chair and rug in the living room, the room was quite plain in colour. Walking a little ways further into the room he noticed the chair had a depression in one of the cushions, upon feeling it, a startling revelation hit him, the chair was warm! As soon as he noticed it, he had the uneasy feeling in his body that he should duck, instantly after doing that, he heard three thuds on the wall. Quickly he regained his stance to face the unknown attacker. To his total disbelief the unknown figure was none other than the student council president, Ava Dagmar._

"_The first time I saw you I knew there was something different about you, the way you talked, the fact you just arrived at the school yet it seemed you knew all that was going on long before you got there," she said. Zamfir remained quiet, looking on the wall behind him noticed three small kunais stuck firmly into the wall. A scent from them caught his nose pretty quickly and from that he knew instantly, they were covered with some sort of tranquilizer. Seeing the stance she took implied that she was mostly a thrower, but at the side of her jeans he saw a long handle belonging to a fair sized blade, which indicated she was pretty good also in close combat. However he also knew himself to be pretty efficient in close combat, so he decided to take the risk. He grabbed a cushion next to him and dashed forward hoping to use it as a distraction in order to get closer to her. However it proved to be better said than done because the same way he dashed forwards, she threw a barrage of shurikens towards him._

"_So who are you working for, or were you so into me today, you decided to follow me home?" She asked as she swiftly dodged his advance, and then at the same time aimed a sidekick to his chest. However he predicted this movement from her, and in turn he dropped low to dodge it, then in turn aimed a firm punch at her jaw attempting to shake her brain which would cause an instant KO. Surprisingly enough she used her forehead to block the blow._

"_I however find it amazing an innocent looking young lady as you, was trained so efficiently in the arts," he replied._

_She gave him a weary grin then dashed forward in a zigzag motion and some got her roundhouse kick planted in his midsection, the sheer force behind the kick surprised him for a brief moment but he used her force against her, by pulling her leg around him abit he leaned back causing both of them to drop to the ground. While both of them rolled around the ground, each trying to gain the upper hand, the door flew open and there standing was the same white haired boy he noticed in class earlier today. _

"_Oh Kensei you got back," she said as she pinned Zamfir's arms to the floor. Zamfir had long given up the struggle because right behind Kensei there standing was the old man. After seeing Zamfir on the ground with Ava on top of him he said,_

"_Oh to be young again, bit frisky, isn't she boy, say hello to your new group." After that statement there was laughter coming from the girl and the old man as Zamfir and Kensei both stood there in bewilderment as to what was going._


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three-New Beginning's_

"_Well, I guess it's safe to say you've met one of your new roommates, but isn't it a bit too early to get it on all over the floor, I mean, even by my standards, this is kind of aggressive for a first date boy," Blake said as he picked out the kunais out of the wall then sat down in the chair next to him. As Zamfir sat there on the ground trying to come to terms on the situation he saw Kensei on the other side of the room looking around aimlessly. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a small object shot out of one of the back rooms, jumped, then landed on Kensei's head. After closer inspection, it was found to be a small, snow white furred cat, staring right back at Zamfir with its steel blue eyes._

"_Ignoring the topic of me just being attacked by a mad, knife wielding woman for the moment, mind explaining to me what is going on here Blake?"_

"_Well like I said boy, this is your new group, your new friends, companions, amigos, need I go on?"_

"_That's all nice and all, but I want to know __**who**__ are they," he stressed, still puzzled as to why Kensei and the cat were both looking at him in the same manner._

"_Well, fair enough," he began to clear his throat as he walked over to where Ava was standing playing with what looking like some sort of gadget that resembled a cell phone._

"_The lovely young lady we have here, who was so kind to greet you by the door, is Miss Ava Dagmar, better known as Trix. One of our foremost computer experts, this young devil has invaded more people's privacy than the FBI, CIA and home land security combined, yes I know, sounds scary doesn't it. However her real skill lies with her unique skill in the art of hand to hand combat and the wielding of small weapons. She is 16 years old." Zamfir looked over towards Ava, who gave him a wave, then got up to answer the phone which was ringing for some time. Blake then walked over to where Kensei was sitting, laughed a bit after noticing the cat had gone to sleep, still on Kensei's head._

"_This is person here really in fact has no name we know of, but the nickname the syndicate gave him is X, when under cover he often goes by the name Kensei. He is said to be the prodigy of the Iaido technique, an old Japanese marital art. By now I'm sure you've figured out he is Japanese, his weapons of choice are old Japanese swords called katanas. He is not really the talkative type but I'm sure you all will get along just fine." When he finished talking, Ava hung up the phone, and gave Blake a nod. It did not take long for Zamfir to figure out the called probably came from headquarters, he then noticed the old man clearing his throat while taking a file from his unruly overcoat._

"_Now that I have given the introductions, time now to get to the meat of the matter," he quickly threw the file into Ava's lap and began again in a serious tone, "This is case file 4AV,operation type 019, do you understand the requirements of the mission so far"_

"_An infiltration mission, minimum resistance is expected, however this can change at anytime, mission must be done in the space of time agreed on by the client, failure to complete the mission in the given time is not accepted." Zam replied._

"_That is correct; the client has requested to be remained anonymous, the target is an old storehouse said to belong to a one Zee Ling, a visiting bureaucrat from Taiwan, he is suspected of being connected to group who were responsible for several assassinations on key diplomats across China and Japan during the last nine years. On this mission you're to find anything that would shed more light on next target they are planning to take out. This is a snatch mission, so get in, and get out. Tonight Zee is scheduled to be attending a dinner being held at a local embassy, the starting time for this mission is at 22:00, allocated time for the completion of this mission is 2 hours. Do you understand the parameters of the operation just given to you?"_

"_YES" all 3 of them replied together, almost as serious as the way Blake was talking to them._

"_Your response has been noted, if there are any questions after this meeting; please see Ava, who will be the information analyst on most of your missions. Since this is not an assault mission, semi-combat attire is recommended, that is all, should you choose to accept this mission, you will receive further instructions, and so do you accept this mission?"_

_Zamfir looked at Ava and Kensei, after receiving a nod of approval from both of them he said "Sure we accept, let's get this show on the road."_


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4- Crash and Burn, Part 1_

"_Well if there are no questions, I shall be taking my leave, oh by the way son," he said as he looked at Zamfir "your belongings were already moved before your flight here, you will find a suitcase in your room with everything you need, and by the way, I've left a little present down for you in the basement below, how about when you're finished with everything up here you go and check it out," and with that statement he left. When the door slammed shut, an ominous and uneasy silence filled the room, as the three sat there, seemingly trying to think of something to say, it was somehow ironic that it took the meow on the cat to break the tension._

_After clearing her throat, Ava began, "Well as he said, this is merely an investigative assignment, however, because of the circumstances surrounding the bureaucrat it was deemed necessary to send us instead of the normal folk, so expect the unexpected...."_

"_You don't need to tell me how to do my job, I was working quite well before I met you," Zam snapped_

"_I am sure you were working quite well alone before you met us, that's why we are babysitting you now I take it," she replied calmly. After a brief moment of exchanging looks with each other, Kensei who had been quite silent for most of the evening, got up, and walked towards Zamfir._

"_My name....is X, call....me Kensei, nice to meet....you," he stuttered out, then disappeared through the door at the rear of the room. Zam stood there for a while bewildered for a second, then got up to follow him, Ava did the same._

"_Don't worry about him, for as long as I knew him, he wasn't much of a talker" Ava told him as she walked down a narrow hallway leading to 3 doors, "the farthest on the left if yours, then it's me after and Kensei's last. Oh and by the way, I'm not ecstatic either about you being here, but the syndicate was never known for doing things we want so jus live with it, when you're finished unpacking, follow the hallway to some stairs and meet us in the basement."_

_Zamfir opened the door, and immediately smelt the odour of fresh paint oozing out of the room. The walls were a ghostly white colour, dotted with a few spots of paint which had not dried as yet. In the corner far to his left laid a small bookshelf which was filled with old English texts covered in multiple layers of dust. The bed however was well made with clean, white sheets and on it laid 2 small suitcases, and one large one. One of the small suitcases contained some of his clothes, while the other had various amounts of important world currencies; it also contained several passports and driver ids. After changing his clothes he opened the large suitcase and gave a smile of approval, as he found what he was looking for, his equipment._

_In it he found one custom made sniper rifle, 2 high-powered shotguns, a few semi-automatics, couple assault rifles, and plenty of ammunition need for them. Under all of that, he found a small bag which contains the 2 hi-powered Brownings he used on a normal basis. After making a quick check to see if everything he wanted was there, he outfitted himself with the 2 guns, and made his way toward the basement. When he got down below, he noticed Ava and Kensei, who had already changed, standing next to what seemed to be a car. However since the vehicle was in the dark of the already dim lighted room, he could not quiet tell what it was until Ava moved aside abit and turn on more lights. Standing in the middle of the room, was a 1976, custom built, black dodge charger. He recognized it, because it was the same car he was working on 2 years back while he was on a job in Virginia. When the job finished however, he completely lost track of the car, since a few issues had turn up on the assignment which forced him to move out sooner than he expected._

"_Blake told us you would know what to do with it, and since he did not give us the keys, I assume you already posse them," Ava said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a set of keys he remembered being given to by the air hostess earlier in the day. He pushed in one of the keys and turned the lock, pulled open the door, and sat down inside the lush, beige, leather interior of the vehicle. He gripped the stirring wheel and noticed even though Blake had finished up the work that was started on restoring the car, it still retained its old feel._

"_So this is his way of paying me for this assignment, well, he does know which strings to pull that old man" he then said, "so when do we leave Miss Dagmar?"_

"_In 20 minutes were scheduled to depart, so I suggest we go and change into more suitable clothing, Zam, Blake said you can find your work clothes in the trunk, and that's it's ok to go wild with the car, or something like that." She replied_

_Zamfir then smiled to himself then smacked the hood of the car saying "Well, time to see how much rubber this baby can really burn."_


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5-Crash and Burn, Part 2_

_Zamfir finished dressing up in his gear which included a black army shirt, long dark jeans and a black jacket he had bought some years back which had spots of wear and tear. He returned to the garage where he found Ava seated in the car._

" _I see we're riding shotgun tonight are we, however I don't think the rain will affect us to much tonight miss, why the long black overcoat?"_

"_I like to be in charge of operations, even if I'm not driving, and the rain has nothing to do with the coat, this is my normal attire for my job," she replied with a smile on her soft baby smooth face "however I will be the only one joining you, Kensei already has his own ride." Before she even finished the sentence, Kensei had already pulled up alongside the car on a black, gold rimmed sports bike. At the side of the vehicle, Zamfir noticed a holster outfitted with 2 katanas. Ironically, the timid young man was dressed in quite a similar fashion as Zamfir was, but more surprisingly, the small kitten which he had seen earlier, was poking its head out from Kensei's jacket. Zam asked him what's the cat's name, but he only got the simple answer 'Hidori'._

_The rain was pouring relentlessly when the group finally left some moments later. The night sky was not that cloudy, however the rain seemed to be indicating otherwise. Zamfir had to use the flood lights on the car since there was a persistent fog which seemed to have been hovering over the car for a while. For most of the trip, the car was filled with uneasy silence, but the conversation picked up as they neared their destination almost an hour later._

"_So now that we're here, is this any strategy you have in mind miss?" Zamfir asked while he and the others walked towards the entrance after the parked the vehicles some yards away._

"_The intel I picked up speaks of some sort of room hidden room somewhere near the top floor; my guess is that's where we should start looking. I'll be in the security room on the bottom floor, I'll see if there's anything worth looking at on the video history they have from the cameras that litter this entire area. Oh, by the way, from the moment we got here there has been a real annoying silence, a place of this kind should be teaming with personal, yet we see no one, so new guy, don't get carried away."_

"_I thought the main reason I was brought here was to get carried away," Zamfir replied with a smile. They then proceeded through the hollow hallways of the seemingly, abandoned building. Moments later, they separated; Ava continued inspecting rooms on the bottom floor while Kensei and Zamfir made their way up the stairs toward the top floor. When they got there, they look over a few rooms until they found the door they were looking for. Having an uneasy feeling, Zamfir kept one hand locked firm onto one of the guns he had concealed in his clothing, while the other slowly turned the lock. Moments later, to their surprise, a deafening explosion rocked through the building as the ground gave way under the two figures._

_Several seconds later after the dust settled, a black figure was seen hanging precariously from a crossbeam, which at any moment, looked as though it would give. Zamfir hung there for a moment, trying to gather his bearings, he then looked around seeing that the explosion also affected the bottom floor. The realisation then hit him that he was directly above the room Ava was suppose to have been, he then saw Kensei perched on a nearby ledge with a worried expression on his face._

"_Ava not picking up," he said while he was speaking into the earpiece trying to get answer from her._

"_I don't have a good feeling about this," Zam whispered to himself. He was about to reply to Ken when he heard footsteps coming towards them, then the sound of cartridges being loaded into guns echoed of the walls and debris. "Damn it, what a time for company to arrive," Zamfir said as he jump off the beam and used the side of the wall to slide all the way down. "You go and look for Ava; I'll deal with our friends here and see if I can find out what is really going on. _

_Moments later several gunmen entered the caved-in area looking around for any sign of life. Suddenly a dark figure jumped out from behind a large boulder, startled by it, the men then opened fire. When the figure dropped to the ground they then headed towards it, but were shocked to find it was just a jacket! The men were startled again when the area suddenly turned dark, then a dark and solemn voice echoed through the night as like the sound of death._

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death, amen" _the sound of gunfire, and blood hurling screams of agony and despair then sounded through the darkness. When the sound of the last empty shell struck the ground, almost immediately, the room became brighter, and crouched up in a corner was a gunman who was still in shock as to what just happened around him._

"_You're probably wondering right now why you're still breathing, or most likely your thinking you've just experienced firsthand what true despair is, that's good, because right now, you're going to tell me what's going on," Zamfir said as he walked to him lightly stepping over the several dead bodies in his way._

_Moments later he left the man on the ground and began running towards the exit, couple of seconds after he heard an explosion behind, and looked back to see a flames licking at walls some distance behind him, however as he kept looking he realised the flames were actually heading directly towards him. Before he knew it, he was being surrounding by a wall of flames that began eating away at the floor._

"_First, some bastard causes an explosion, now some idiot torches the place; this is so not my day." He then dived through a window on his left, just seconds before another explosion echoed through the house, this one however seemed to be bigger somewhat, because the whole building then collapsed. On his way down he jumped off several objects which had been through from the building because the explosion, he then landed in a fountain below which broke his fall. He then climbed out and to his surprise he heard Kensei's voice in the earpiece he was wearing. Before he could ask a question, Kensei said bluntly to him "Ava got kidnapped"._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_- Crash and Burn, Part 3

_Zamfir stood there for a second, with thoughts racing through his mind wondering what Kensei could possibly mean by that statement, he then said "Kensei, what do u mean she's been kidnapped?" He then went on to explain to Zamfir that in the process of looking for her, he noticed a van some distance away from the main gate, they were 3 armed men. Ava was there with them; she got in the back of the van with the men then roared off down the lane. While Kensei told him this he was already on his way to the car, he then revved up the engine, and then floored the gas pedal, sending the car flying down the lane in pursuit._

"_I'm behind them," Kensei said to him, which implied that Kensei had already, rode out in pursuit after the van. Time Kensei caught up to the van, it had already hit the a main highway and was heading south bound towards a private airstrip he had noticed earlier on a map Ava had shown them. He slowly approached the van on his bike, but sudden the backdoors on the van were violently flung open. Two men from the van appeared from the darkness and started firing at him with their pistols. Kensei however was not to troubled with dodging the weak gunfire, but he was more worried because in the back of the van he noticed a man holding a gun to Ava's head. He knew if he made the slightest mistake, there was the enormous chance Ava could be killed in the process. _

_So he helplessly weaved his way through the traffic until they got to the air field. When the van arrived, it when straight in the middle of the lone runway, and the engine then went silent. By then Kensei had already got of his bike, took up the longest katana with it still in the sheath, and slowly made his way in the van' s direction. He arrived at the scene a few seconds later and found himself face to face with 2 of the men who were firing at him, and the other guard who was still holding Ava with a gun planted on the side of her face._

"_Banks, wha you want us do wid dis punk, he's getting to be a real pain in my ass," one of the guards asked the man who was holding the gun to Ava._

"_Chiudi le Tue bocche cazzo__,_ _Ucciderlo prima che IL boss viene,"__ the man replied in a stern, yet muffled Italian accent. Ken stood there with a bewildered expression on his face, but he understood ever word the man said. Seems whoever was really in charge was arriving soon, which means he only has little time to get Ava back. However before he could unsheathe his blade, he heard the distance sound of a place coming towards the area. _

"_Times out," the man said as he squeezed the trigger of the gun he was holding to Ava's head. Moments later a gunshot then ran through air._

_**********************************************************_

_Moments before, Zamfir was busy weaving through dirt roads heading in the direction the GPS on his cell had marked out Kensei was travelling. Few minutes later, he noticed two bikes that had been following him through the several turns he had taken. After the next turn the bikers saw Zamfir's car park at the side of the road. They took out their silencers and slowly walked towards the car. After noticing a figure in the driving seat, and the windows open, they wasted all the rounds in the gun on the figure, and then quickly opened the door. To their surprise, it had not been a real body, but jus an empty bag full of air. Suddenly one of the bikers felt someone hand on his jaw, but before he could react, his neck was snapped back as he slowly dropped to the ground with a slight stream of blood pouring out of his eyes._

_The other biker then turned around quickly to see only the limb body of his companion on the ground lying at a strange angle. He then saw a figure slowly approaching him mumbling some words he could not understand. The biker then grabbed for his other gun he had concealed in his jacket, but then felt extreme pain at the side of his head. To his dismay however, when he touched his head, he found his left ear was missing a huge piece, Zamfir had shot it off._

_The man then dropped to the ground howling in an immense amount of pain as the blood began to pour out. Zamfir the stop above him and asked "Who do u work for." However the only response he got was a fury of fierce insults being fired out of the man's mouth. Zam then swiftly removed the knife he was holding in his coat, and slammed it into the man's fingers, in the process slicing off three of them. The man had hardly started screaming out more, when Zamfir asked him the question again. This time however, he got the response he was looking for._

_He then got in his car and sped off towards a hill he had seen some miles away. The man had told him their boss was arriving at an airfield some distance away and there he would deal with the girl who the men had caught. When Zam arrived at the top of the hill overlooking the area he took out the custom made sniper rifle he had unpacked earlier and placed in the back of the car, just in case a situation had come up._

_Moments later he zoomed in on the airfield, which was a little more than a mile away, and saw Kensei, the two gunmen, and a man who was holding a gun to Ava's head. Expertly he only took a few seconds to aim and fire a shot which grazed a few trees before it lodges itself in the man's skull as he let out a scream of agony. The man then collapsed to the ground as the planed approached from the north; however to Ava's and everyone else's surprise, the plane was on fire! Moments later the plane crashed into the runway, sending the whole area into a curtain of flames._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7_-_Crash and Burn, End

_As the ear piercing sound of the crash, echoed around the area, Ava looked up and noticed the sheer force of the explosion had flung her several meters away from the landing strip. The hot blood soaked sweat trickling down her face alerted her to the face that she had not escaped the explosion unscathed. As consciousness drifted away from her, the last thing her eyes saw was a dark figure emerging from the flames of the wreckage. _

_Zamfir having seen the plane on fire before it had crashed was already on his way to the fiery scene. He arrived moments later to find part of the plane's wing still intact, but whatever was left, was completely engulfed in flames. The falling debris from the plane had been spread over a large area, making it harder for him to distinguish where Kensei and Ava might have disappeared to. He approached the dismantled aircraft; he quickly whipped out his pair of Brownings and turned around to face the mysterious figure he noticed was following him for some time._

"_My, have we gotten brave over the years, you dared to raise a weapon against me?" the figure said in a soft, yet icy cold voice. Zamfir recognized the voice, he knew who it was, there was only one thing he wanted to do. Only one thing the blood pulsating throughout his body was telling him to do. In a blink of an eye he dashed forward firing a blanket of bullets toward the fleeting figure, which had already began running straight for the flaming body of the plane. However, Zamfir was not fazed by this, and quickly went after in pursuit. When he got into the flaming mass, he saw the heel of a shoe coming straight towards him he dodged immediate and followed up with his own kick towards the opponent. It was only then, he finally saw what the figure clearly. Standing in front of him with steely blue eyes was a young woman, around twenty years of age. Dressed in four inch heeled boots, short army issued slacks and a black leather top that anyone can see, was too small for her_

_The caramel skinned woman was moving quickly to disarm Zamfir, however he already knew he had long run out of bullets so, pretending to let her hit the guns out of his hands, gave him time in order to land a firm kick to her rib cage. Ironically however instead of hitting her ribcage, he found his legs in her hands as she spun him around and flung him into side of the plane, sending him flying back outside onto the tarmac. He quickly got back up, but felt a sharp stabbing pain in his shoulder as again he was sent flying down the tarmac. This time however he landed on his hands and flipped backwards until he slowed down the momentum of his body. He then stood up straight, with his eyes piercing the dark outfitted exterior of the opponent who by now had begun to speak to him again._

"_Are you not going to say anything to me Zam?" she asked_

"_I have nothing to tell a bitch who betrayed her friends for money," he replied as again he and the assailant traded punches._

"_That's quite harsh coming from u darling, after all we have done together," she smiled then rammed her elbow into Zam's chest. Although the pain was unbearable, he gathered up his strength and tried to slam her into the ground._

_However she twists his arm and pushed him onto the ground and whispered into his ear,_

"_Listen closely and listen close darling, I am after a certain person who is related to a mission I am carrying out, u will be soon given a mission to take out my target, take my advice, if I even get the slightest sign that you will be there, failing the mission will be the least of your problems. After than he heard the sound of a helicopter above him, turning over quickly and looking up, he saw her blowing a kiss at him, as she flew away into the dark ghastly cloud of smoke still hovering in the air. He laid there thinking to himself, as he saw some figures running towards him, as sounds of distant sirens, echoed through the night._


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8- 5 Minutes to Midnight_

_The early morning sun was blazing through the quaint apartment window, reflected of the nearby empty mug of coffee and landed on Zamfir's face. Though this was making his deep rest uncomfortable, it was the constant bombardment of a small housefly that brought him to full consciousness. After a brief moment of remembering the events that happened a few hours before, he got up, and made his way down to the basement where he saw his car parked and piece of paper stuck on to the dashboard. It was from Blake, it said Ava and Kensei already gave him the report of what happened, and he will talk with him personally later. After reading the rest of the letter, he burned it with a lighter he had stashed, took a shower, dressed, and drove his way to school. It was ten in the morning by the time he arrived, so he already missed 1__st__ period. When he entered the class room, he was surprised to find Ava at the teacher's desk seemingly correcting papers, while the rest of the class was practically empty_

"_Where are the others," he asked_

"_Language teacher is absent, she left me to correct last week's test results, so I sent the rest of the class down to the gym, much easier than letting them stay here disturbing my train of conscience." Just at that very moment a stiff breeze decided to take the pile of papers she had stacked up, for a ride through one of the class windows. Ava let out a big sigh, and dropped her head to the table._

"_How amusing, however, before you chase after the New York times, mind explaining to me what happened last night?"_

"_Well, I wish I could answer that, but I honestly don't know what happened. I was in the room collecting all the video information on the target. When four guys blasted through the door shouting orders I think in a German accent. I killed them before they could get a shot on me, but then recognized one of them to be the usual gun for hire for a local mafia group," she then got up, locked the door, removed a sheet of paper from her bag, and continued in her explanation._

"_When I woke up this morning, I went and researched his back ground, and found something interesting will want to hear. Two months ago he was hired by a water distillation plant called WIC, it's a sub company owned by a large conglomerate of banks and other firms centred in Taiwan, their chief CEO ..." she handed Zamfir the piece of paper, and immediately, he recognized the face._

"_Mr Zee Ling," Zamfir replied._

"_Correct, so after seeing this connection, my theory is that somehow Mr Ling found out about our plans, and sent his men to make sure we find nothing. Only question is, how did he manage to find out about our assignment?"_

"_Well I think I can answer that for you, last night, another member of the syndicate was there, one who I was hoping not to see anytime soon. Her name is Tatiana, no need to worry you about the last name now. Her specialty is gaining the trust of her target in order to make her certain kill more effective," he slowly got up and handed her a photo of the woman. Even though it was a bit scratched, it was still vivid._

"_That picture was taken three years ago on a villa located 10 miles north of Cape Horn, South America. Two days after it was taken, a shady business man who was believed to have been planning some kind of coup, was killed in his home. Multiple gunshot wounds on the body reveal he was probably tortured before his throat slit. After police questioned all the employees there, several of them indicated the man had a personal maid. After months of investigation, the maid was never found, police however found a picture similar to this, that confirmed the maid was Tatiana."_

"_So your saying, in order to gain Lee's trust, she sell us out to him? Her own organisation?" Ava asked._

"_I think again u mean sold us out, and she has been known for doing things her own way, not really a surprise."_

_When school was over, they got up and realised Kensei had gotten home before them. When he noticed them stand there he pointed to a scrap of paper under the telephone. It has on it that Blake called. Ava looked at, flipper out her cell and dials a number. After talking for a few minutes she turned and around with a confused look on her face._

"_Blake said Zing left the country 10 minutes ago on a private plane headed to London. It was strange because he had a meeting scheduled this morning with some members of a partnering agency he was planning to buy out."_

"_Yeh so what is wrong that you have that strange look on your face," Zamfir asked._

"_All the other people who were suppose to be there for the meeting, were all found dead in their homes a few hours ago, one however in particular was different. On the floor next to him he had written on in his blood, 5 minutes to midnight..."_


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9-Betrayal, or Not_

"_Five minutes to mid-night," Zamfir kept repeating the phrase in his mind as he drove his way back to the apartment. Ava had sent him out to a local library to pick up some books she needed. The request seemed trivial at first, but Ava somehow convinced him that the information she required could only be obtained in the two books she had sent him for. It was late evening by now, and snow began falling slightly. The white charms from the sky cascaded slowly on to the road in the most delicate and innocent manner. However, earlier in the day it had rained, and the now inclusion of the light shower of snow, it had now made the roads slippery conditions to drive in. Still, that did not stop the inevitable teenager from speeding by him once in a while on a bike, which in any case was not fit to ride in better weather._

_As Zamfir approached the last intersection before the apartment, he noticed the usual amount of cars parked on the street in that area were not there, and even more than that, the last block or so, had been in complete darkness, except for a few street lanterns. Having an uneasy feeling, he decided to make a quick phone call to Ava to check up on things, however, not really to his surprise, his cell could not get a signal._

_Up in the apartment, the room was pitched dark. The only sound that could be heard was the constant low screeching and whining from the ceiling fan. As the glaring moonlight shone into the room after the clouds had cleared a path, it revealed the true nature of the deadly silence in the room. The moon uncovered several men dressed in heavy combat wear, and packing everything from semi-automatic artillery to hi-powered shotguns. The ominous group seemed somewhat lifeless, they were standing evenly around the room, not moving, fingers firmly planted on the triggers. Moments later the light disappeared, and the room again was plunged into darkness. Suddenly footsteps were heard from a distance slowly approaching the door; it was then the previously stationary figures began to move to more favourable positions waiting for the moment the door opens._

_The lock is slowly turned, the key is pulled out, and then.... silence. The ghastly figures stood still in the room, as the ice cold wind howled through a crack in the wall, then stopped.... for silence once more. Moments later, the door is finally flung open, and a dark, bullet riddled figure drops to the floor, lifeless. A much deeper, darker, eerie silence fills the entire room. A nearby crow starts to sing in its most beautiful demented laugh. The figures in the room started looking at each other, and then realised, there is one extra person among them._

_Several minutes later, the moonlight glistening through the blood stained windows gave way to the lifeless figures scattered around the room. Zamfir sat on a desk in the shadow of the moonlight, reloading his guns. On the floor, one of the dark figures suddenly got up and ran towards the door, only to be shot several times in the leg and arms before hitting the floor once more._

"_The syndicate will...."_

"_BANG," the man was silenced by the gunshot. Zamfir silently got up from the desk, firing two more rounds in to the body and said,_

"_I've not come to hear your reasons; I've merely come to give the verdict."_

_Zamfir got into his car and tired calling Ava again, this time he had gotten through. Fifteen minutes later he pulled up outside a seeming abandoned ware house 80 miles away from the apartment block. The smells of old wood and gasoline was in the air as he entered the back of the building. He opened the door and to his surprise, standing some yards away on some crates, was Tatiana! She smiled at him and motioned for him to follow her down a flight of stairs. When he got down below, he saw Ava standing at the far side of the room looking over Kensei who was asleep on the floor. Ava turned around and saw Zamfir eyeing her to come to him._

"_I guess there's no need for me to ask the question, so speak." Zamfir asked in a soft yet firm tone._

"_Well while you were gone, your friend over there came by and warned us someone had sent men after us so it would be best for us to move. Of course I did not believe her until we heard several footsteps coming up the stair case. I tried calling you, but somehow they hacked into the blocks cell tower and power lines, we were literally back into the stone years._

"_I think you mean stone ages," Zamfir said, still keep his eyes on Tatiana who by now was one the lookout by one of the windows which was not totally covered in sawdust._

"_Whatever, here comes the interesting part. Seven years ago, three agents from three different nations were involved in a black ops mission deep in Russian territory, one of those agents, was Mr. Zee Ling. What they recovered from the there was classified, but the package was dubbed, "MIDnight"_

"_Yeh and?"_

"_Don't you get it? The bloody message that one of the victims wrote down was a code, it not 5 minutes to midnight, its 52 MIDnight, 52 is the number for the location of the package,"_

"_Yes but, why would anyone come after us, we were not in that mission?"_

"_True, but we know who were in that mission. The other two agents were British and Russian. One was Blake, and the other, was Tatiana...."_


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10- Behind enemy lines_

_By now Ava and Kensei had gone outside to keep watch, giving Zamfir and Tatiana some time to talk alone. By now the rain had begun to rain profusely, and under the grey cloud above them, a slight mist started to form. Ten minutes had passed since they last spoke a word to each other; they just stood there at opposite sides of the room, starring at each other in silent thought. The rain continued to beat against the rusty structure, almost as to force itself in. The silence was then broken, with a soft, serene note being hummed by Tatiana. She held the note until she was out of breath, inhaled, and then began to speak._

"_We came from the battle, blood soaked sweat streaming down ever corner of our bodies. The horror, gory scenes were forever engraved into our eyes. The bodies of children, the limbs of women, and the hearts of lovers. I have seen the dark side of war. I have seen politicians and ministers alike, sit in their homes while the people suffer and die as they await some form of salvation. Yet we fought on. We fought for freedom, we fought for the safety of generations to come, but alas it was a fool's thought. This war was not for freedom, this war was not for justice, this war was for the devil. For only he could use us living vessels as pawns against one another. I have seen war." She then stopped for a moment to wipe away a tear, she from the beginning, had been keeping inside._

"_You speak with emotion, but choose to show none." Zamfir said, now moving to close a window, that now had flung open by the gusts howling outside._

"_First time I questioned Blake's judgement, he told me that story. For him telling me that story showed me what kind of man he really is." She turned around and smiled at him, but the smile turned into a serious expression instantly. "He's dangerous Zam; he alone was trained by the best teacher in our line of work ... Lucifer himself. He threw away his heart years ago, in exchange for the unrivalled ability to control any situation he finds himself in. The organisation realised this a long time ago, but rather than to get rid of him, they ignored it. For as the saying goes, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. He was as close as you can get. Now however he has found out something which has stirred up movement in the high ranks. As of five hours ago, a kill on sight order was issued for him, and all of us associated with him."_

_This had Zamfir lost for words for a brief moment. He himself had grown up in the syndicate, but never once had the entire organisation been given a black order against one of their own, further more anyone else. Just want was that crazy old man up to, he thought to himself._

"_Where is he now," he asked._

"_Your guess is as good as mine. He had been staying at a hotel near Washington at the time the order was issued, but when I got there, it was all cleared out. I asked a question at the desk as to when he had left, but the answer I got was a little surprising. They claimed no one had stayed in that room for the last 3 weeks, was suppose to be expanded for a more expensive suite."_

"_So right now he's gone..., well that's just typical of him to do. Since your here, what can you tell me about 52 midnight."_

_She slowly got up from the table she had been sitting on, grabbed her gun from the back she had been holding, and then looked at him. "52 midnight was my second mission with Blake as his bodyguard rather than him being mine. It was a simple mission; Zee was a double agent working for the French as a mole in Russian intelligence. I don't know much after that, but that there was a package we had been assigned to pick up with Zee as our guide. Blake did not let me put my eyes on it, but it was a standard shaped box. No really distinctive features... well there was a strange symbol engraved on the top of it, looked like a S, but I can't say for sure."_

_Zamfir cell then rang; he answered it, and then got up in a hurry. "What's the matter," Tatiana asked him, already in pursuit._

"_That was our travel plans miss, we're leaving."_

"_Leaving? Where the hell are we going Waltz," she said as she rushed to grab her other bags she had left in the room._

"_The peaceful and fun loving country of Russia my dear."_


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

_As the plane left state lines, Zamfir sat in silent meditation gazing periodically at the two air hostesses who were busy serving a couple at the top of the isle. Few minutes later he noticed a man in the adjacent row wheezing uncontrollably. It was not long after that however, that his pain subsided after some assistance from his partner he was travelling with, he soon dozed to sleep. Zamfir decided to close his eyes for a while, and think over the events that occurred over the past 72 hours. His boss is missing, the girl he labeled as an enemy appears to be quite the opposite and to make it even more delightful, and he is being chased by the same organization who kept him alive for years. Irony certainly is beautiful. Before him and the others had left they decided to all take different flights. Tatiana and Ava together had gotten the straight flight from JFK to Moscow. Kensei had opted to get one of the many connecting flight which would get him to Russia 3 hrs after the ladies. Zamfir however was the last to leave. He wanted some intel on some individuals in Russia he felt were important to Blake._

_Zamfir's flight had already touchdown at Heathrow and his connecting flight left an hour later. The air hostesses were on their usual rounds to the passengers on the flight, but suddenly, he got up and followed one of them to the back of the plane. They went down the stairs and into the ladies' bathroom, and without any hesitation, he did the same._

"_I would be lying if I said I was not expecting you, but the least you could have said was hello." Zamfir said as he locked the door behind him and faced the female figure that had now turned around with her blouse slightly unbuttoned. _

"_Well I certainly underestimated you. Seems interacting with you from now on will be fun," she said as she approached him closely._

_She came up close, and starred him in the face for a few moments, the whispered into his ear "Oh the things I could do with you boy….," this of course sent a cold chill down his spine. The figure then sat on the sink adjacent to him, and began to speak." My name is Isabella, no need for a surname. In fact there was no need for me to introduce myself, however I have an interest in you Mr. Waltz, feel honored." Isabella paused a moment to undo her hair which she had pinned up for the whole time, and strangely enough she began to undress. _

"_I came here to get information out of you, if I wanted to see a strip show I would have gone to Vegas," he said as he turned around to face the door._

"_Well glad to see chivalry is not dead," he heard her whisper. _

"_Sorry about this interruption, however as soon as this flight lands, its best we depart with haste, this plane is crawling with the organization's dogs. However I believed you noticed that already. So I shall carry on, I believe you're here on a quest to find Blake correct? You must already know since you're his student, that you can't find him, frankly it's easier for him to find you. I am in fact working for the syndicate as you can tell, but I'm more of a rouge agent. The only one I need to answer to is Blake, and as you can appreciate, I won't be carrying out the black order out on you and your team. However I am here on other business of which you need not know about, at least not yet."_

_There was silence for a while until he smelt the soft lingering scent of vanilla and lavender floating around, he turned to face her, and was taken aback for a brief moment. In less than 5 minutes, Isabella had now completely changed her attire. She had placed her air hostesses' uniform in the bin underneath the sink, and was now wearing white jeans...a white cropped top underneath a black and white lace cardigan...with a pair of thigh high pvc boots. Quite the outfit considering it was -10 degrees outside. The plane touched down 30 minutes later and the passengers were about to disembark, Zamfir and Isabella exited the bathroom to see three men quickly approaching them. Zamfir how ever had been expecting it and expertly dragged two of the men into the restroom and slammed their skulls into the counter by the sink. This quickly knocked them out and they dropped to the floor. Looking back, Zamfir had seen Isabella had already taken care of the other man, as he was laying seemingly comfortably in one of the chairs._

"_Why does it seem you had less trouble taking care of that guy, than I did just a few seconds ago," Zamfir calmly asked her as they walked through the arrival hall towards the car park. _

"_Every girl knows all we need to do is smile and the guys are childishly bewitched," she replied with a smile. At this moment she had approached an exotic car which was parked few yards away from where they were._

"_A convertible Alfa Romero 8C, what sort of strings did you pull?"Zamfir asked as he hopped over into the driver's seat._

"_Yeh I know right, these babies have not even been put up for sale as yet, but lucky for us, we know a lot of people."_

"_So where to now, Miss lady without a last name?"_

"_Just drive, we will make it to our destination soon enough."_

_With that statement Zamfir sped out of the car park, and sent the car speeding down the highway. Following several yards behind was a white limo, whose soul passenger was smoke a cigar and loading a rifle. In his eyes there was no expression, the bloodlust around was dark with an area of sadness about it._

"_Have you decided what your going to do Sir," asked the driver._

"_Decided it before they were born Simca,….Extermination"_


End file.
